Posted By Camille Canon On December 5, 2011 @ 2:39 pm In News | No Comments

The Week We Searched For- November 26-December 2, 2011

Cyber Monday exceeds e-commerce spending records- Cyber Monday 2011 marked the heaviest U.S. e-commerce spending day in history, with sales increasing 22 percent Y/Y to $1.25 billion according to comScore[1]. “Cyber Monday was yet another historic day for e-commerce, with online spending reaching a record $1.25 billion,” explained comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni[2] in a statement. “It was just the second billion dollar spending day on record, following on the heels of Cyber Monday 2010. While last year saw Cyber Monday rank as the heaviest online spending day of the year for the first time ever, it will be interesting to watch the next couple of weeks to see if any future individual days in 2011 manage to leapfrog this year’s highest day-to-date.”

Google introduces Indoor Maps- Google launched[3] a new addition to its Google Maps 6.0 for Android service on Tuesday—indoor mapping. Together with airports and businesses across the country, the new mobile Maps will enable users to view the entire layout of a building, move between levels and locate businesses, bathrooms and ATMs. Current partners include Mall of America, The Home Depot, IKEA, San Francisco International Airport, Chicago O’Hare airport and others. Google has also launched a beta tool that enables businesses to upload their floor plan into Google Maps’ database. To get a sense of the product, check out Google’s IKEA demo video[4].

Google talks one-day delivery service- According to the Wall Street Journal[5], Google is in talks with retailers and shippers to provide consumers with a low cost, one-day delivery service on web orders. The service would compliment Google’s broader efforts better to connect retailers and shoppers, particularly on a local, mobile search based level, which represents a strong growth market for Google. “Local digital advertising revenue will be $23 billion this year, just 17 percent of total local ad revenue, but the portion will grow to 25 percent by 2015, according to BIA/Kelsey, a local media research firm,” notes Claire Cain Miller and Nick Bilton in the New York Times[6]. “Local advertising contributes heavily to Google’s biggest businesses; local search ad revenue, now $6 billion annually, is growing 10 percent year over year, and more than half of mobile ads are local.”

Google revamps YouTube interface- Google’s YouTube launched[7] its most comprehensive site overhaul to date this week, placing more emphasis on YouTube Channels, subscriptions and user control. YouTube now offers better sharing and customizable options. With these changes, YouTube also seeks to appeal to larger content creators. YouTube’s new layout is now live.

YouTube introduces analytics- On Wednesday YouTube introduced[9] YouTube Analytics, which will replace YouTube Insight. The new analytics service is more robust than the previous interface, providing detailed insight on the audiences that viewed your video and how they interacted with it. According to YouTube[9], the new features include:

A Quick Overview: A new overview provides all of the information that you care about quickly, while also enabling you to easily access more detailed information.

More Detailed Reports: Analytics now includes more detailed statistics so that you can have a more precise understanding of your content and audiences.

Audience Builders: Discover which videos are driving the most views and subscriptions.

Audience Retention: See how far viewers are watching through your video in the new audience retention report.

Adobe acquires Efficient Frontier- Adobe Systems announced[11] its acquisition of the digital marketing company Efficient Frontier on Wednesday. The details of the deal were not disclosed. “With the explosion in global Internet advertising, our customers need to know where, when and how to spend their digital marketing dollars to get the greatest return,” explained Brad Rencher, senior vice president and general manager of Adobe’s Digital Marketing Business, in a press release[11]. “The addition of Efficient Frontier will give our Digital Marketing Suite customers a leading platform for turning ad spend into business impact.”

F.T.C. settles privacy issue with Facebook- The FTC reached a settlement regarding privacy issues with Facebook on Tuesday, which subjects Facebook to mandatory privacy audits for the next 20 years and forces the company to receive “affirmative express consent” before changing a user’s privacy settings. Shortly after the ruling, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, posted a blog post, admitting that the company had made “a bunch of mistakes.” The settlement did not require a direct admission of guilt. For more on the ruling, Facebook’s reaction and the response from the online user privacy advocacy world, check out Somini Sengupta’s article in the New York Times[12].

The FTC-Facebook Settlement[15]- Marvin Ammori, from Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society, discusses the history of the FTC’s privacy issues with Facebook and the implications of its recent settlement.